Has Anyone Else Had This Problem with Hydroton?

It's raising the ph of my water in my hydro system uncontrollably. This is the same issue I had with it before and was the original reason I switched to higromite rocks. At the time I used it before however, I was not using RO water which I thought would make a difference when I switched back but it hasn't.....at all.

I rinsed the rocks and let them soak thoroughly before use.....there was very little dust on them afterwards. I ran the system for two days to disinfect it and have had seedlings in it for a week. The ph is rising several points a day and it's getting to be a really huge problem. There are no nutes in the system....strictly ph'd water....and if I'm having to adjust ph 4 times a day to keep the plants stable....if I miss one they start wilting immediately. I've changed the rez on the plants three times but nothing I've done has made any difference.

I was trying to "wait' out the newness of the rocks but see no changes at all. Unless it stablizes I guess I'll have to toss these and start over with some higromite....I have no intention of standing by these seedlings with ph down for a few months hoping to squeeze them through and having to play defense.

I haven't heard of anyone else having this issue with hydroton but I'm certain it is the problem since it is absolutely the only thing that is different in my setup from before and it's exactly the same problem I had before when using it. Anyone else?

WH im currently having the same problem, and ive been baffled. After reading the post it dawned on me that i ran some solution over the hydroton and ever since ive been adjusting down 4-5 times a day.(just went and picked another gal of ph down) Ill check with the owner tommorow and let you know. good luck

Hey sis.
When we rinse them we do it 2-3 times , the last time we ph all the water in the bathtub / laundry tub they're sitting in and let them soak in it overnight or ph likes to rise . Hope it helps .
Crispi :jointsmile:

ugh....overnight.....I did not do that......sharing I've tried pouring around the rocks, on the rocks, while the rocks aren't looking.....it's driving me crazy as well. Like I said I've been trying to wait it out but so far it's not working....i've added so much ph down that one of my plants got up to 150 ppms...JUST ON PH DOWN.....

So will it stabilize out you guys?

I rinse good and go with a small drip systems and have no problems. Once a day check is good and when I start lite nutes I can check it every other day with not much change. I don't know why they would give such an up in PH. Danm sorry wish I could help. I used nothing but RO water in my system.

Went back to the shop today and discussed the problem i seem to be having and with mine being dwc, my problem is/was different(flushed again today and have been stable for 6hours). As far as your setup other than the drip ring being "dirty" she said she would ditch the hydroton and start fresh. She also keeps promoting coco fiber as a better medium. Ive got four clones started and im going to give it a shot. Good luck and let us know your findings..

We'll i've got stable ph now.( 5.6 to 6.0 for the for the 12 hour cycle.) WH hows the airstone and pump working? lack of ammonium would cause a steady rise. Hell I dont know ive been up all night racken my brain, any way good luck


:upsidedow

Don't have an airstone...air pump to drip ring....I'm sure its the hydroton because it's the only thing different. Are you going to try the coco? I've heard about some weird issues with it and so was afraid of it. Also did not want to go timed watering the way you should with coco I'm told.....for me it just seems like one extra thing that could go wrong, lol.

Sharing do you use ro water?

Ive never had this problem with hydroton ever.

Hey guys I'am new to hydro and will be starting a ebb&flood soon and I read all I can about it.like to ask what are the temps of the water?What did you disinfect the hydroton with?Housewhole bleach is not pure,has alot of fillers in it.Example TIDE DETERGENT 20%phosphate the cleaner and 80% peanut shells.So rainse then 3 or 4 times let them dry and the 5th raise try a small amount mirco in the rainse before using them.I know when I add micro to the water the PH go's down.Lots of PH water.Well thats My take on it.PEACE

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Originally Posted by Weedhound

Don't have an airstone...air pump to drip ring....I'm sure its the hydroton because it's the only thing different. Are you going to try the coco? I've heard about some weird issues with it and so was afraid of it. Also did not want to go timed watering the way you should with coco I'm told.....for me it just seems like one extra thing that could go wrong, lol.

Sharing do you use ro water?

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No ro ,distilled(i was thinking about buying an ro system for the house, cause in southflorida you dont drink the tap, lol, i just went with distilled because all of my chems say "with distilled" water drop me an email if you want on your take of ro). Im going to try coco with half the clones and try do a good comparison(im a head, we'll see) so ill let you know. Just checked ph again and had zero fluctuation(5.8).

I've used H202 as well but I actually stopped after a few times with the hydroton wondering if somehow there was some sort of interaction happening but nothing changed so I went back to using it.....still with no change. I started them on nutes today and so far seems to be doing the same thing so i don't know.....I'm actually sort of getting used to it but it would certainly be nice not to have to jump on the ph four times a day....:(

Racer I had the same problem before, think I mentioned up top and I'm trying to wait it out but after a week and 1/2 it's still rising 2 points a day.....I just don't get it...

Will......I'm definitely going to try that next time first...thanks for the tip. :)

same deal here i have a dwc setup and im having to add down 1 to 2 times a day i just washed them in tap water so i seen this up there>>>>

Went back to the shop today and discussed the problem i seem to be having and with mine being dwc, my problem is/was different(flushed again today and have been stable for 6hours). As far as your setup other than the drip ring being "dirty" she said she would ditch the hydroton and start fresh. She also keeps promoting coco fiber as a better medium. Ive got four clones started and im going to give it a shot. Good luck and let us know your findings.. what did u do to fix ur's for dwc thats what i have??? im using well water

WeedHound - I don't know if this applies to your particular problem, but you know the pH problems I was having and I've been able to get things under a lot better control since I sterilized everything.

For those of you contemplating coco, be sure to wash your coco really well when you get it. Coco often has a lot of salt in it and there's really no way to know if it's clean except to flush it. One grower here says Canna brand coco is good without flushing, everything else, wash real well.

I dont know if this will help,but I would flush the whole system with Flora Kleen.The hydroton and all the rocks and balls are PH neutral.Do you have away to check your PH pen to see if its working right?I would try the flora kleen and see if that clears up your problem. PEACE

I have checked my ph tester and its "spot on" as the british would say. PC I also disinfect my entire system everytime I put a new plant in it. I run really large amounts of h202 for several days everytime I start a new grow.

It's gotten to be about 3 times a day now....ppms up to450 and it doesn't seem to have much effect. I'll definitely try soaking them overnight next time and the Flora Kleen idea doesn't sound bad either :thumbsup:

:thumbsup: on the flora, wh im still "spot" with the ph, good luck.